BizJournals: To commemorate the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) released a story bank featuring stories of successful prevention initiatives in action from around the country. Many of the stories focus on Community Transformation Grant (CTG) awardees, and show how this new program, made possible by the ACA, is already helping to improve the health of Americans. CTGs are one of the hallmark programs of the ACA’s Prevention and Public Health Fund, which is a dedicated investment in community prevention and state and local public health programs and workforce.

AP: The White House is still pushing for an assault weapons ban, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday, even though Senate Democrats all but sealed its fate by dropping it from the gun-control package they plan to consider next month. “Attitudes are changing,” Biden said in an interview with NPR News. “The president and I are going to continue to push, and we haven’t given up on it.”

“I don’t see this as there’s an automatic endpoint, that, OK, there’s one vote, this is it, fails, now we move on,” Biden said. “We are going to continue to push for logical gun-safety regulations.”

Still, Biden acknowledged that if Congress expanded background checks but failed to adopt the assault weapons ban, the White House would not consider the broader effort a failure. “That would be gigantic,” Biden said.

In this handout image supplied by the Government Press Office of Israel (GPO) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and U.S. President Barack Obama visit the shrine of the book on March 21, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel.

U.S. President Barack Obama greets Theresa Hannigan from New York, who is wearing a ReWalk bionic walking assistance system, at an Israeli technology exhibition at the Israel Museum on March 21, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu view a robotic snake used in search and rescue at an Israeli technology exhibition in the Israel Museum on March 21, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and U.S. President Barack Obama visit the shrine of the book on March 21, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel.

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President Obama Visits Israel Museum’s Shrine Of The Book

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First lady Michelle Obama talks with Jorge Ortiz during her visit to the Fisher House, located at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Wednesday, March 20, 2013, for a pre-Easter celebration with military families and children. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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First Lady Bears Gifts To Military Families

AP: Michelle Obama marked the first day of spring with an early Easter celebration as she handed out holiday treats to military families and children.

The first lady stopped by the Fisher House at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Wednesday as families decorated Easter cards.

Mrs. Obama, accompanied by first dog Bo, carried a basket full of cookies made by the White House pastry chefs in the shape of the Portuguese water dog.

She also brought tickets for the families to attend the White House Egg Roll on April 1.

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Anthony Robinson gets close to the Obama family dog, Bo, as first lady Michelle Obama watches during her visit to the Fisher House, located at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Wednesday, March 20, 2013, for a pre-Easter celebration with military families and children. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

First lady Michelle Obama shares a laugh with, from left, Sanae Bright, Kerry Bright and Ashanti Ferguson, during her visit to the Fisher House, located at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Wednesday, March 20, 2013, for a pre-Easter celebration with military families and children. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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AP: The nation’s views on gay marriage are more favorable in large part because of a shift in attitudes among those who know someone who is gay or became more accepting as they got older of gays and lesbians, according to a national survey. The Pew Research Center poll also finds that a large group of younger adults who tend to be more open to gay rights is driving the numbers upward.

Overall, the poll finds 49 percent of Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, and 44 percent opposed to the idea. That’s more people now favoring gay marriage than opposing it. A decade ago 58 percent opposed it and a third supported it.

The 49 percent who now support same-sex marriage includes 14 percent who said they have changed their minds.

When asked why, almost one-third say it’s because they know someone who is gay — a family member, friend or acquaintance. A quarter said their personal views have changed as they thought more about the issue or just because they’ve grown older and more accepting.

Greg Sargent: The argument that we don’t need expanded background checks because “criminals don’t respect the law,” i.e., they won’t submit themselves to a background check, is a common one among the “gun rights” crowd. But this argument is self-refuting. It is actually an argumentfor expanding background checks, not against it. Here’s why: The loophole in the background check law — which the new proposal would close — is actually a leading reason whythose who are prohibited from having guns are able to continue not “respecting the law.” The loophole in the law is a key reason they are able to get guns while not submitting themselves to background checks under the current system.

If the loophole were closed — and private sales were subjected to a background check, which law enforcement officials and other experts believe will severely limit the ability of criminals and/or traffickers to get guns — it would, in the view of those experts, become a lot harder for criminals not to “respect the law.” That is an outcome Boehner presumably wants. The fact that criminals don’t “respect the law” is why we need expanded background checks in the first place. The broader point here is that there’s no coherent policy argument against expanding background checks. That’s why Boehner accidentally admitted that background checks are good policy. That’s why the argument that we should not tighten up the law because criminals don’t obey laws is self-undermining. And that’s why opponents continually resort to the false claim that expanding background checks will create a “national gun registry,” when the law explicitly prohibits that outcome.

So this morning I glanced at the msn headlines to see if they even bothered to cover POTUS Israel visit.. yep one headline (they’ve now changed it) that read “Obama receives big welcome (hugs doncha know) from Abbas.. mixed welcome from West Bank”. I expect trash from the media.. so I’m never surprised anymore by BS.

Thanks so much for your vote! Yes, I have two kids, both daughters. I refer to them online as #1 and #2. You can vote via the link on Twitter, Facebook, Stumble, and the other social media forums by clicking on the green box labeled “Vote for this Entry’ next to her video. Evidently, the votes only count when you click on the icons in the box, not by just re-tweeting.

To commemorate the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Des Moines Register (yes, those idiots) allowed Rep. Steve King to explain why “Repealing Obamacare is in line with serving public”. His “opinion” includes such gems as “On the front end, Obamacare raids $716 billion from Medicare to pay for new Obamacare programs.” 🙄 He concludes with “this newspaper may disagree with me on every single point I mentioned above…” b/c even King recognizes BS when he spews it. I can’t imagine you want to actually read this crap, but it’s way down on the opinion page somewhere: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/opinion

At least 7 people shot (local news said up to 17) at a rap video release party at a Chgo nightclub last night when 3 guys opened fire and started blazing away. One of the rappers was Lil Mouse who drew natl attention last summer when at age 13 he released a vid with people waving guns at the camera—–and wearing the “No talking” shirts, a gang “no snitch” agreement. These shootings said to be gang related. Isn’t this just ridiculous? What a waste of time and purpose. Just tragic.

Hero for what. If that is what they think are heroes, no wonder the media is not respected or trust anymore . Just remember what David Gregory said not to long ago about how the media didn’t like this President. Not all the media, but was it the D.C media, or beltway media, I don’t remember. All I know is it is anti-Obama from the media creeps like Todd, Henry, and the rest.

Thanks for this fabulous Rise & Shine roundup UT! Great news all around, and I’m simply in awe of First Dog Bo – doing his part to help bring a lil’ kindness and cheer to the weakest and most vulnerable.

Heh – so when will the MSM give PBO at least some credit for causing a sea-change in attitudes towards SSM? I recall when PBO first came out in public support, the media didn’t waste any time pushing the false narrative that PBO was going to lose his AA supporters. They rounded up all the Black evangelical ministers in the US (all 5 of them) who were against SSM to represent the “Black community”

Well, sad to say a group of AA pastors are running anti-SSM radio ads in Chicago now, fearful Illinois will soon pass SSM acceptance. Here and in many other instances religious figures are responsible for holding people back, interfering with progress, keeping minds small.

Follow the money behind the ads. Remember, there were AA clergy in Chicago who were against MLK from coming to Chicago and marching in Marquette Park, at the time, one of the most racist/segregated areas of the city.

I believe the polling numbers for support of SSM in the AA community have grown considerably since PBO’s stance. This last-ditch effort by a (now dwindling) group in the AA community does not worry me. We’re moving ahead, with or without them being on the right side of history.

Having read about Chuck Todd’s shenanigans on yesterday, I am again asking, what in the world is going on with these so-called journalist/political experts?

It just seems to me that they have no sense of responsibility in their reporting anymore. They ignore facts or report partial facts. They give their opinions as if they are facts. They ask questions about inane situations and ignore the serious issues.

Do they even do research anymore? Is it not part of their job to put something in context by providing some FACTUAL background or historical information?

They don’t use common sense anymore. They believe it is their right to access and report on things without a care as to whether or not it may threaten our national security.

They seem to think it is a game as to who can outsmart this President; constantly in a game of gotcha. Even worse, when their “expertise” is proven wrong, then it becomes revenge for making them look bad. It’s bad enough they do it here, but to go on foreign soil and attack the President? REALLY!?!?!?!

It has gotten to the point that we even find ourselves questioning the inconsistent statements of some pundits who we may have found to be credible in the past.

It’s worse than some reality shows. They should stop trying to present themselves as serious journalist/pundits and just admit what they are. (I would say entertainers, but what they are doing is not very entertaining to me.)

Thanks for the roundup, UT. I had no idea that the Dead Sea Scrolls were presented in that rounded fashion. What a brilliant idea. I think this week has proven without a doubt that we live in a hostile media environment. Let’s continue to spread the word ourselves wherever we can. Today, I have a meeting with progressives and in a few days we send out another newsletter. My goal is to always try to steer people to good news sources, like White House or TOD or to international news sites. It’s amazing how little people know. Our planning for our Latino Roundtable, Latinos Working Together, is going well. We have some great speakers lined up and I hope we can inspire some new thinking in our Latino community about how powerful they can be if; 1) they work together to address issues they care about; and 2) they always, always vote. It’s a steep climb, but we have to start somewhere. We are the only ones standing between a totally corporate-run, anti-people society and a decently functioning democracy. Have a great day, everyone. By, the way, I noticed, Chips is getting very close to 18 million hits. Forward!

Thanks for all you do, jackie:) Your efforts are tireless and much needed. Keep Fighting On!! I DID notice that we’re getting close to 18 million visitors….omg. That’s really something and a tribute to this place and the search for the truth….people are starved for the facts and just plain common sense.

Thank you so much everyone for the kind words and thank you Chiparoo for the opportunity to do a Rise and Shine. I have no clue how Chipsticks does a Rise and Shine everyday and keeps it so fresh and informative but I feel as though I need to send her ten cases of champagne because wow, wow, wow. She is superwoman indeed. (Chelsea and Manchester United fans giving each other nice comments; next? Pigs will fly.😀 )

Seriously, thank you everyone. It means a lot. I look forward to continue doing my best for Chips and TOD.

When UT lets me mention ManU & O’reilly defends the President (admittedly against the insane collection of lies that Bachmann invents) – it sure is a lovely day on TOD. And the first sentence of your link

Bit of a chat in the last thread about politics in my world. Two wins today – rather unusual for me.

The Prime Minister kept her job – little Kevin suddenly remembered he had promised not to challenge her again – upset some of the politicians and all of the media – the latter not caring as to what anyone said in the past. Still seems likely she will lose the next election & the one who likes to insult will be our PM when PBO visits next year.

And my city looks to be winning the battle on public transport against the state government. I’ve been writing letters to politicians like there is no tomorrow (something I very rarely do) & obviously others are doing the same – because the wonderful transport study that recommended saving money by squeezing more people on to fewer buses – is heading for the waste basket. Not often a right wing government folds – good to see them getting such a negative reaction.

I love the pictures of FLOTUS with the kids. She seem to have so much fun around kids. Malia and Sasha I know your parents feel blessed to have you two, but I really hope you know how blessed you are to have Barack and Michelle as your parents. I have a feeling they do.

Thank you God for blessing us with the most caring President in MY lifetime…..
Bless his family, the people who are close to him and work with him who help make this world a better place for all of us to live, breath and survive.
As you can see, I am very grateful knowing our President is representing exceedingly well. He always does.

Have a great day everyone! Keep the President and his family in your prayers.

Fantastic – thanks UT. I look forward to yet another exciting day with our President in Israel. Do you know at which of those times he will be receiving his medal? I read upthread that it might be during the 2PM event?

The argument that we don’t need expanded background checks because “criminals don’t respect the law,” i.e., they won’t submit themselves to a background check, is a common one among the “gun rights” crowd. But this argument is self-refuting. It is actually an argument for expanding background checks, not against it. Here’s why: The loophole in the background check law — which the new proposal would close — is actually a leading reason why those who are prohibited from having guns are able to continue not “respecting the law.” The loophole in the law is a key reason they are able to get guns while not submitting themselves to background checks under the current system.

If the loophole were closed — and private sales were subjected to a background check, which law enforcement officials and other experts believe will severely limit the ability of criminals and/or traffickers to get guns — it would, in the view of those experts, become a lot harder for criminals not to “respect the law.” That is an outcome Boehner presumably wants. The fact that criminals don’t “respect the law” is why we need expanded background checks in the first place.

The broader point here is that there’s no coherent policy argument against expanding background checks. That’s why Boehner accidentally admitted that background checks are good policy. That’s why the argument that we should not tighten up the law because criminals don’t obey laws is self-undermining. And that’s why opponents continually resort to the false claim that expanding background checks will create a “national gun registry,” when the law explicitly prohibits that outcome.

* What the sequester really looks like: Must watch: Buzzfeed has put together a terrific video compilation of local news segments from around the country detailing the harm the sequester is already doing to real people in local communities. This underscores the folly of the Beltway obsession with White House tours and demonstrates again that GOP triumphalism in the sequester battle is premature: It really may bring serious pressure to bear on local officials. This is a long game.

The beltway obsession is not really obsessed with WH tours – they are obsessed with using anti-Obama, Republican talking points. I think Plum Line needs to admit that the Republicans and their politics drive the MSM .

This is a nice feel-good story from last month and may have been posted on TOD before. If not, enjoy! 🙂

HEADLINE: Bo Knows Westminster: Obama’s dog breed competes

// Bo knows competition. Well, at least this “Bo” breed does. More than two dozen Portuguese Water Dogs made it to the Super Bowl of dog competitions this year: the 137th Westminster Kennel Club dog show. And although all dogs competing are already known as the creme de la creme of the canine world, the Portuguese Water Dogs are currently the only ones with a cousin in the White House.

“[People] are like ‘Oh! It’s the Bo dog!’,” says Alanna Looney from Norwood, Massachusetts. She has owned Portuguese Water Dogs for five years now and was showing her dog at Westminster this year. //

Great Round-up again! Hoping for more news on TV but I know better than to count on it. I am off until 4:30 today so I am calling ALL the Senators. I am on #5. Votes on Gun Safety and Sequester are important to get done. Call every Senator. WE all pay their salaries with income tax.
They work for us no matter what state they represent. Our taxes go into a General Fund.

Six percent of Americans believe in unicorns. Thirty-six percent believe in UFOs. A whopping 24 percent believe dinosaurs and man hung out together. Eighteen percent still believe the sun revolves around the Earth. Nearly 30 percent believe cloud computing involves… actual clouds. A shockingly sad 18 percent, to this very day, believe the president is a Muslim. Aren’t they cute? And Floridian?

Do you believe in angels? Forty-five percent of Americans do. In fact, roughly 48 percent – Republicans and Democrats alike – believe in some form of creationism. A hilariously large percent of terrified right-wingers are convinced Obama is soon going to take away all their guns, so when the Newtown shooting happened and 20 young children were massacred due to America’s fetish for, obsession with and addiction to firearms, violence and fear, they bought more bullets. Because obviously.

In sum and all averaged out, it’s safe to say about 37 percent of Americans are just are not very bright. Or rather, quite shockingly dumb. Perhaps beyond reach. Perhaps beyond hope or redemption. Perhaps beyond caring about anything they have to say in the public sphere ever again. Sorry, Kansas.

Did you frown at that last paragraph? Was it a terribly elitist and unkind thing to say? Sort of. Probably. But I’m not sure it matters, because none of those people are reading this column right now, or any column for that matter, because reading anything even remotely complex or analytical is something only 42 percent of the population enjoy doing on a regular basis, which is why most TV shows, all reality shows, many major media blogs and all of Fox News is scripted for a 5th-grade education/attention span. OMG LOL kittens! 19 babies having a worse day than you. WTF is up with Justin Timberlake’s hair?!?

Statistically, 50% of people are below the mean. So, this is no surprise that the bottom third (a little more) believe these stupid things. And, as my husband, the psychologist/statistician explains, these people will always be these people. Frankly, we are fortunate it isn’t more than 37%. The sad thing is, many of them do vote, and yes, I guess this sounds elitist, but we cannot get even 90% to smarten up and think analytically. I read the above article to my husband, and he said “That 5th grade level keeps popping up.”
One reason I think we know this more, is that many years ago when polls were taken, only the top half to top one third had phones for surveys. Now, everyone does, so the sampling is much truer statistically.
This does not mean we stop trying, we keep working, but shouldn’t be too shocked at this lower one third statistic. I’m sure 37% still believe the Iraq War was a good thing.

All of this maybe true, but it’s important not to fail into the “elitist” trap. It’s a trap the GOP effectively used against us when they created the “Red/Blue State” meme. There is a little something called “common sense,” which although the lowest 37% may not comprehend what that means, a much larger part of the US population do. Common sense is what convinced my friend, who is not a political junkie, to vote for Obama (and not Romney). Common sense helped her compare the behavior of her Democratic-leaning friends and family with that of their Republican counterparts. While her left-leaning associates are respectfully and explaining things to her, her right-leaning friends and even family are calling her names and repeating lies. They were also making her Facebook visits much less enjoyable due to their rants and insults towards anyone who dare disagree with them. She’s had to de-friend many of these people. This is why I say be careful with this information and don’t fall for that elitist BS. It’s one of the reasons why the American Left has been in the political wilderness for 30 years. My friend only has a high school education in comparison to my bachelor’s degree. She’s not as analytical as I am. But, she still saw Romney for the a-hole he was. She has “common sense,” which at times, is more valuable than a degree. I work with people with advanced degrees on a daily basis and you would be surprised at how many of them lack basic, common sense.

Beside, I’m impressed with the fact that 42% of the population enjoy reading anything complex or analytical. I would have assumed this figure to be a lot lower. All is not lost.

That’s the news the media doesn’t want to talk about. If the housing market is getting stronger then that means the economy as a whole is doing the same. It’s much easier to keep using words like sluggish and to tell viewers it’s all PBO’s fault.

Regarding NPR’s interview with VP Biden yesterday…I was in my car why I heard it. If you did not hear it please listen to it:http://www.npr.org/2013/03/20/174880882/interview-with-vice-president-joe-biden
You can read the transcript, but listen to it…I was so angry with Melissa Block and her rude treatment of Joe. It was like she was given GOP talking points to throw at the VP.
This question had me at “well”, but our VPs response was great.

Block: Well when you say it does save people’s lives there has to be some sort of calculus here, right? There has be to be some point where you say, is the number of lives that we save, does that outweigh the burdens and restrictions we put on millions of Americans. How do you draw that conclusion?
Biden: Tell me what the burden is that you have to buy three clips with 10 rounds versus one clip with 30. The cost is the same. What is the burden? What am I doing to infringe on your constitutional right? You can think of a thousand burdens we put on people that, in fact, are [INAUDIBLE] impact positively on society. It is one thing if you can tell me the burden is onerous. First of all, the vast majority of gun owners are not running around with clips that hold 30 rounds. There is no good data. Here’s part of the problem. Part of the problem is when the authorization had to be renewed for much of this in 2004, restrictions were placed on the ability of the government even to keep data.

FYI…..I am finding CBS news web page a good source for streaming and well written news. The headline right now is a good positive lede about the peace process in Israel and Palestine, and positive toward the president. I am learning to ignore NBC.

I don’t know what my grandparents politics were or if they voted. I recall my mother saying that when she was in grade school she was taught who the President was, FDR and the names/titles of everyone in his cabinet. I heard yesterday on Randi Rhodes that only 40% of teenagers knew that Joe Biden was the V.P. of the USA. When I turned 18yrs old I registered to vote and voted for President Carter who was very popular as a “fresh” face and would “change” Washington. I think it will take something really HUGE to really change the poison that has gotten into our politicians blood stream which is “money”. There needs to be a ground swell grass roots effort to get money out of the political process but we also need to make sure the people we send there are intelligent and not some clown. I would hate to see our political process be run even more like a circus or sporting event. We need serious people who won’t put up with the media clowns like Chuck Toad.

I am listening to the Stephanie Miller Show and Hal Sparks and Jackie Shcekner (sp) are guest hosting. Hal was talking about how disrespectful Toad was and Jackie who knows Toad could not criticize him because she knows him personally. In other words we need to stop protecting bad behavior just because we “know” someone. Bad behavior is bad behavior. How can you expect everyday people to stop the violence in their neighborhoods when they “know” the people who are doing harm and won’t do anything to change things.

Yet, I read the comment section of that story and found a few people saying, “No, this isn’t because of Obama. It’s because the GOP brand is dying.”

Yes, the GOP brand is dying, but it still takes a savvy politician to know how to use that to their advantage. And honestly, if the Democratic Party knew what they were doing, Dukakis would have been President in 1988 and Kerry would have won in 2004. In regards to Gore, yes, the election was stolen from him. But, the vote shouldn’t have been that close. Gore ran a terrible campaign. In all of these cases, Democratic contenders went up against the Bushes, who are not known for their intellectual prowess or political know-how. Both GHWB and GWB had glaring weaknesses which the Democrats failed to use to their advantage.

Obama knows how to use the GOP’s weaknesses and the changing national landscape to his advantage. I’m honestly stick and tired of people thinking politics is so easy. It isn’t, especially with our form of government.